Marat Gafurov and Martin Nguyen Meet Again at ONE: Quest for Greatness

Undefeated featherweight champion Marat Gafurov will be defending his belt in the main event of ONE: Quest for Greatness. The Russian is set to rematch Martin Nguyen in Kuala Lumpur on August 18.

Gafurov (15-0) is a former M-1 featherweight champion who has won six fights out of six since signing for ONE Championship. He will be making the third defense of the belt he won by beating Narantungalag Jadambaa in 2015.

He is also the only man to ever beat Nguyen (8-1). They fought two years ago when the Australian stepped up at very short notice to challenge Gafurov for an interim version of the title when Jadambaa was unable to compete due to last minute visa issues.

Nguyen is a former Brace MMA featherweight champion who has won five fights out of six for ONE Championship. Notably submitting hyped Singaporean prospect Christian Lee and stopping seasoned Japanese veteran Kazunori Yokota with a highlight reel knockout.

The co-main event sees a former champion return after a long absence to take on a recent challenger. Nobutatsu Suzuki (11-2-2) will return to the cage for the first time since 2014 and he’s dropping down a division to take on Ev Ting (13-4) in a lightweight match.

The card also features two bantamweights who have been beaten by Bibiano Fernandes. Kevin Belingon (15-5) and Reece McLaren (9-4) will both be hoping to earn a rematch with the champion when they go head to head at Stadium Negara next month.

When Agilan Thani (7-1) was swiftly submitted by Ben Askren earlier this year it caused surprise and dismay in Malaysia. The welterweight will be looking to bounce back in front of the fans in his hometown where he will face Egyptian Sherif Mohamed (8-3).

There’s also an outing for former strawweight champion Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke (7-2) who will be taking on Robin Catalan (6-2). The Thai holds a 2014 win over his older brother Rene, who coincidentally is also on the card.